Ducks Back East to Battle No. 10 Georgetown, UMBC
This Week: The Ducks return to the East Coast for the second time in as many weeks to face the No. 10 Georgetown Hoyas on Fri., Mar. 2 at 12:30 p.m. and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) on Sun., March 4 at 9 a.m.
Scouting Georgetown: The tenth-ranked Hoyas began the season as the No. 3 ranked team in the nation, but dropped their first game to No. 12 James Madson, 14-10. Third-year head coach Ricky Fried returns 10 seniors to this season’s squad after finishing 14-4 overall a year ago. Georgetown will be looking to win their seventh straight Big East title and earn a spot in their tenth straight NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas, who were selected to finish first in the conference preseason poll, are led by Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Coco Stanwick and Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, senior goaltender Maggie Koch.
Ducks vs. Hoyas: Jen May and Ilsa van den Berg both tallied two goals for the Ducks, but the No. 11 Hoyas were too much for Oregon last year as they defeated the Ducks 16-6. Coco Stanwick led the charge for the Hoyas, tallying four goals and controlling seven draws.
Scouting UMBC: Last year, the Retrievers picked up their first-ever America East regular season title on their way to a 5-1 conference record and and 10-8 overall record. Head Coach Courtney Connor was named conference coach of the year, but UMBC was upset in the first round of the conference tournament. The Retrievers return five all-conference players from last season, including first-team attack Ali Levendusky, second-team midfielders Jen Kasper and Kelly Fahey and all-rookie team midfielder Kara Dorr and goalkeeper Susie Sweeney. In the current season, UMBC has compiled a 2-2 record, most recently being tagged with a heartbreaking 10-9 overtime loss to Baltimore-Loyola.
Ducks vs. Retrievers: During the Ducks inagural season, Oregon fell 14-11 to UMBC. Oregon’s Jana Bradley led all scorers with four goals and one assist while Jen May added three goals. Lindsay Killian tallied two goals and an assist.
LAST TIME OUT: The Ducks split a pair of game during their first trip to the east coast of the year. No. 1 North Carolina gave the Ducks a bit of a reality check, as the top team in the nation welcomed the Ducks to the poll with a sound 16-4 win over the newly ranked Oregon. The Ducks would rebound by dishing out a thrashing of their own to the Davidson Wildacats. Kate Fleming had five of Oregon’s 14 goals, which included a run of 13 straight after Davidson tied the game at 1-1.
Defensive Ducks: The Ducks have only given up 7.25 goals per game (29 total) in their first four games, second in the MPSF behind California (11 total, 5.50 per game), who have only played two games. In their first four games last year, against an arguably inferior schedule, the Ducks gave up 48 goals in their first four games (12 per game).
‘Flem’ Picks up Where She Left Off: Junior Kate Fleming may have missed the last seven games of last season after tearing her ACL, but the Cardiff, Calif. native fittingly tallied the first goal of 2007 for the Ducks, showing she’s back to full strength. Fleming was off to a hot start before falling, having scored 22 goals in 12 games last year. She currently leads the Ducks with nine goals on the year, thanks largely to her five goal effort against Davidson, the most goals scored by a Duck this year.
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